Star Wars Half Marathon Weekend 2021 (April 15-18, 2021) - Now Virtual Only

[Krandor]

While I agree with a bunch of the posters - I think that there is probably, at best, a 30% chance of a live race happening - I'm thinking that there are definitely ways of making the race happen IF Disney wants it to.

- If I'm looking at things correctly (I haven't done a Star Wars race yet), this is a race that traditionally has separate start and finish lines. My point above was if you let people park at both the start and finish (Disney surely has enough parking areas available to make this happen) - instead of forcing people to park at the finish and bus to the start - you can reduce the transportation load.
- With the park opening times of 9 a.m. (Animal Kingdom), 10 a.m. (DHS) and 12 p.m. (Epcot), there will be more time than usual to get the runners clear of the parks. If they backed up the start time to 5 a.m., you have 3.5 hours to get the runners out. Depending on how many runners are started at a time (how wide is the road to Animal Kingdom?), it might be possible to use that course.
- In a similar vein, if Epcot isn't opening until noon, there is a TON of time to run the 5K.

My point is that, with creative thinking, it is possible. I know A LOT of people and businesses that have faced stiffer challenges this past year and managed to make remarkable things happen. But it is definitely easier for Disney to say "we can't do it" - no, you don't WANT to make it happen - and go virtual.

Like I said in my post it is possible to run *A* race. can it be run like normal? not a chance.


1) you are correct but unless you have people meeting you at one end or the other somewhere you have to move to where your car is.
2) As I said in my post, star wars does have the advantage of not having to deal with MK which has very strict times of getting people out. That does help. The question is can you stagger people enough to make it work? That is the big question. I haven't run the math so I'm not sure but I still think it would be pretty tight. You say 3.5 hours but the start line is typically magic kingdom parking lot. So at an AK opening of 9am, you still have to get people from MK to AK and have time to remove all the cones, water stations, etc. by 9am. You don't leave AK until mile 4. At 16 min/mile that is still a little over an hour.. you'll still need half an hour probably to clean things up so you'd need people out of AK by around 7 probably. So now you are down to 2 hours to start racers. Even though AK is mile 4... HS you leave around 10.5... At a 16 min/mile pace. There is a 1 hour opening between AK and HS but runners need 1.5 hours now so you cut another half hour from your start times.

The later opening times help but the numbers still get very tight very quick especially at HS. Could you hit those numbers? Maybe but it isn't easy. I'm not saying it can't be done but it is very very tight especially when you add in time to clean up things before park open.

3) the 5k and the 10k can definitely take place. There is always enough time for those. The half is where the times get tight.

Is it impossible? No. Is it very very tight time wise for disney? yes. and the problem is if they mess up the times they have an issues with park guests which they don't want. It is the same issues races like NYCM are going to face. Can they stagger starts over a long to make it work? sure. Can they keep roads closed for that long to accommodate that? Likely not. Disney is even worse since it isn't just roads but guests into the parks as well. There are a ton of moving parts that marks is very tough.

Even with the later park opens, I think they'd have to push back to a 3 or 4 am start to have a chance.

 

[huskies90]

Great discussion. And I agree with all opinions. If you have been to Disney since the parks re-opened, your opinion may be swayed. Mine was. Guest and Cast Member safety is way way way high on their priority list and you can see that everywhere in the parks. I am sure for the races, they would want no crowding in the start/finish, on the course or with spectators which of course will be impossible to control even with reduced numbers and precautions/work arounds. And you would absolutely need to wear a secured mask the entire time which with April heat/humidity would make running 13.1 miles almost impossible. Add to that all the cost to adjust to meet safety standards and all the lost perceived value/experiences of why we do runDisney in the first place, and you will be less optimistic.

Before my November trip, I thought Disney could have done MW and Princess with many of the precautions and work arounds discussed here. Heck, I have done 4 live races since July so I know they can be done safely. But now, not only do I think the chance of Star Wars happening is close to 0%, I am also very skeptical about Wine and Dine. I would put W&D at about 50/50 right now and even MW 2022 at risk depending on how well the vaccine roll out, compliance and actual effectiveness ends up being. Let's be real. These are 3 huge variables that all have to go well to get us out of this. While I think we will get there, I am sure we will have bumps along the way.

 

[fatmanatee]

Meanwhile I'm still begging for a medal based on the Star Tours vehicle.

 

[rteetz]

Before my November trip, I thought Disney could have done MW and Princess with many of the precautions and work arounds discussed here. Heck, I have done 4 live races since July so I know they can be done safely. But now, not only do I think the chance of Star Wars happening is close to 0%, I am also very skeptical about Wine and Dine. I would put W&D at about 50/50 right now and even MW 2022 at risk depending on how well the vaccine roll out, compliance and actual effectiveness ends up being. Let's be real. These are 3 huge variables that all have to go well to get us out of this. While I think we will get there, I am sure we will have bumps along the way.

Now this is where I disagree. I went in November too. Based on my experience and what I’ve seen/heard I think we are much closer than you think. There is a reason they haven’t called Star Wars yet. Other races around the country are being called into the summer months already. Disney could hold a race right now if we are being honest. Will they? No but like I said we are getting much closer. So I think it’s way premature to consider WD 2021 and even MW 2022 in question.

 

[Krandor]

Now this is where I disagree. I went in November too. Based on my experience and what I’ve seen/heard I think we are much closer than you think. There is a reason they haven’t called Star Wars yet. Other races around the country are being called into the summer months already. Disney could hold a race right now if we are being honest. Will they? No but like I said we are getting much closer. So I think it’s way premature to consider WD 2021 and even MW 2022 in question.

I'm of the opinion star wars will go virtual but W&D/MW2021 are going to proceed. We are close but we are still looking I think at Q3/Q4 or so for real "normal" I think.

 

[huskies90]

Now this is where I disagree. I went in November too. Based on my experience and what I’ve seen/heard I think we are much closer than you think. There is a reason they haven’t called Star Wars yet. Other races around the country are being called into the summer months already. Disney could hold a race right now if we are being honest. Will they? No but like I said we are getting much closer. So I think it’s way premature to consider WD 2021 and even MW 2022 in question.

Can you elaborate? I am not arguing, just genuinely curious. What are you seeing/hearing that makes you feel we are closer? Outside of the potential of the vaccines working and bringing down the threat of infection, what is different now that wasn't around two months ago? Based on your avatar, it looks like you have been to Disney recently. So you know, max social distancing is everywhere. And not following their strict mask mandate is not tolerated. I totally understand (and respect) why Disney is doing it to protect their guests, CM's and mostly, their core park operations as any press about super spreading at the parks would be detrimental. In my opinion, all this has to go away before DISNEY will do races. I am not saying they are other big races can't happen. I am saying based on how they canceled MW and Princess and based how they are approaching safety, I don't see anything changing in time for Star Wars. And if vaccine roll out, compliance and effectiveness isn't best case scenario, W&D and possible MW 2022 are also at risk. So if you have more inside info, please share!!

 

[rteetz]

Can you elaborate? I am not arguing, just genuinely curious. What are you seeing/hearing that makes you feel we are closer? Outside of the potential of the vaccines working and bringing down the threat of infection, what is different now that wasn't around two months ago? Based on your avatar, it looks like you have been to Disney recently. So you know, max social distancing is everywhere. And not following their strict mask mandate is not tolerated. I totally understand (and respect) why Disney is doing it to protect their guests, CM's and mostly, their core park operations as any press about super spreading at the parks would be detrimental. In my opinion, all this has to go away before DISNEY will do races. I am not saying they are other big races can't happen. I am saying based on how they canceled MW and Princess and based how they are approaching safety, I don't see anything changing in time for Star Wars. And if vaccine roll out, compliance and effectiveness isn't best case scenario, W&D and possible MW 2022 are also at risk. So if you have more inside info, please share!!

Well the vaccine is the biggest of course. We are mere days away from authorization. I said in my reply I was at WDW and Universal for that matter in November. More and more races are beginning to happen too. Albeit not large ones of course but Space Coast was sizable and Orlando Half had 2500.

Disney is clearly feeling better about things too otherwise they wouldn't have raised park capacity to 35%. I don't think this has to go away for Disney to do races. They were very much looking at conducting Marathon Weekend and Princess and still very much are contemplating Star Wars. The day before MW was called sponsors were still told it was on.

I do think Disney will play it safe and call Star Wars off. I am signed up but that is my expectation. I don't see any reason to believe that Wine and Dine is at risk currently. New York is actively planning for a 2021 marathon right now. Of course nothing is with 100% certainty. We have learned that time and time again throughout this pandemic. I just believe it is premature to even consider Wine and Dine 2021 and MW 2022 off right now. MW 2022 is still over a year away.

 

[huskies90]

Well the vaccine is the biggest of course. We are mere days away from authorization. I said in my reply I was at WDW and Universal for that matter in November. More and more races are beginning to happen too. Albeit not large ones of course but Space Coast was sizable and Orlando Half had 2500.

Disney is clearly feeling better about things too otherwise they wouldn't have raised park capacity to 35%. I don't think this has to go away for Disney to do races. They were very much looking at conducting Marathon Weekend and Princess and still very much are contemplating Star Wars. The day before MW was called sponsors were still told it was on.

I do think Disney will play it safe and call Star Wars off. I am signed up but that is my expectation. I don't see any reason to believe that Wine and Dine is at risk currently. New York is actively planning for a 2021 marathon right now. Of course nothing is with 100% certainty. We have learned that time and time again throughout this pandemic. I just believe it is premature to even consider Wine and Dine 2021 and MW 2022 off right now. MW 2022 is still over a year away.

Totally agree on increased park capacity. That is a good sign and something different than 2 months ago. And we can be optimistic about the vaccine(s). Who knows, maybe it will go better than expected. And maybe more vaccines get approval in the next few months and timelines speed up. I know we are not canceled yet so we can certainly continue to hope.

Also, sorry I missed in your reply that you were also there in November.

 

[Z-Knight]

happen this race will - hope I

 

[camaker]

happen this race will - hope I

Happen, this race will.

Where, the question is.

 

[Krandor]

Well the vaccine is the biggest of course. We are mere days away from authorization. I said in my reply I was at WDW and Universal for that matter in November. More and more races are beginning to happen too. Albeit not large ones of course but Space Coast was sizable and Orlando Half had 2500.

Disney is clearly feeling better about things too otherwise they wouldn't have raised park capacity to 35%. I don't think this has to go away for Disney to do races. They were very much looking at conducting Marathon Weekend and Princess and still very much are contemplating Star Wars. The day before MW was called sponsors were still told it was on.

I do think Disney will play it safe and call Star Wars off. I am signed up but that is my expectation. I don't see any reason to believe that Wine and Dine is at risk currently. New York is actively planning for a 2021 marathon right now. Of course nothing is with 100% certainty. We have learned that time and time again throughout this pandemic. I just believe it is premature to even consider Wine and Dine 2021 and MW 2022 off right now. MW 2022 is still over a year away.

absomurely Way too soon to think races in q3/q4 are off. Once we reach the point that anybody that wants the vaccine can get the vaccine within say a week then it will be a lot easier for places and events to remove most restrictions and say if you don’t get the vaccine and come you’re on your own. Hopefully by w&d we’ll be at that point.

 

[Novatrix]

And in-person races are being held in FL now. Space Coast went on as planned, OUC Half was this past weekend, and I stumbled onto a local race near home while out for a run the other day. At the same time, a major (locally) race org has canceled its Oct and Dec races. It's totally at the discretion of race orgs at this point, since there are no state restrictions preventing races from happening.

You can't use Space Coast as an example of a live race being held in Florida which would meet Disney standards.

There was a pronounced minority of participants that were not wearing masks at the start line, and most participants didn't put masks on at the finish line after the race. They had assigned staggered start times, but there was very little social distancing happening in the corrals and none in the port-o-potty lines. That was with only ~3,000 people.

Personally, if people feel healthy enough to run a half marathon (or further), and are wearing a mask, I don't feel uncomfortable being in close proximity to them. I don't, however, think Disney lawyers would be as comfortable with that scenario.

As to whether W&D '21 and MW '22 will run, well I guess I'll keep on floating short term interest free loans until we finally get an in-person race and we'll see what happens.

 

[huskies90]

absomurely Way too soon to think races in q3/q4 are off. Once we reach the point that anybody that wants the vaccine can get the vaccine within say a week then it will be a lot easier for places and events to remove most restrictions and say if you don’t get the vaccine and come you’re on your own. Hopefully by w&d we’ll be at that point.

Just for the record...I didn't state that I think the races in the Fall 2021 are "off". Only that we are heavily relying on the vaccine roll out to be successful, we have enough available doses, people actually take them and they work as advertised. If you don't think that there is a level of risk of those things lining up by the summer and going smoothly, where the heck have you been for the last 9 months??

That being said, obviously I hope and pray it is sooner than later and Wine and Dine and other Fall races happen. I know I will be there. And when all those things do happen and numbers start to drop, I 100% agree with your comment. If someone has the opportunity to protect themselves by getting an available vaccine - assuming they medically can, it should be up to the individual to protect themselves and not rely on others to do so.

 

[GuinnessRunner]

we have enough available doses, people actually take them

So I struggle with this one a bit. I 100% agree that there have to be enough does, but not sure it matters if people actually take them. From a pure liability standpoint, if I have the ability to get the vaccine and choose not to and then travel to WDW to participate and end up getting sick, I think that's on me, not Disney. I chose not to avail myself of something that would protect me and those that take the vaccine (assuming it works) are not put at risk by my behavior (not entirely true either as vaccines aren't 100% effective). Disney would really only have potential liability in situation where I can't protect myself and therefore need them to have protocols in place to reduce my risk (as is currently the case). Now still could be a PR issue (don't want reports that X number of people that attended the race got sick) which is probably just as important to them as the potential liability. This is more an intellectual exercise for Star Wars as it doesn't seem likely a vaccine will be readily available to all that want it by then, but does make W&D and certainly Marathon weekend seem like more realistic options.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

I realized that my statement was imprecise. Yes, most of the American population recognizes Baby Yoda. And that would be one medal. But if there are multiple races and/or the challenge from the Madalorian, that would be a deal-breaker for me.

I realize that the 5K sometimes goes rogue (pun intended) with a lesser known character. But for the 10K, half and challenge, I would expect medals based on the film franchise.

I was genuinely surprised that they went outside of the movies for the 5K last year. But given the tremendous popularity of The Mandalorian right now within the franchise overall, I think medals based off the Mandalorian himself and/or baby Yoda are inevitable. If the races go virtual and baby Yoda is on one of the medals, I would be very surprised if that distance does not sell out.

 

[kbenson13]

Add to that all the cost to adjust to meet safety standards and all the lost perceived value/experiences of why we do runDisney in the first place, and you will be less optimistic.

This is my big concern. I'm sorry to say it but if they can't hold a "normal" race, then I'd personally prefer that they cancel it and give me my money back so I can use that cash to sign up for Wine & Dine. For me, the "perceived value/experiences" are all wrapped up in character interaction during and after the races. If there are no character stops along the route, or if your ability to take pictures with characters along the route is limited in any way, I personally don't see the "value" in running this incredibly expensive race. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I don't do Disney races looking for PRs. I do them to stop at every character and soak in the experience of these unique runs.

I get more doubtful by the day that they'll be able to provide a "normal" Run Disney experience in April. On the other hand, I think the chances of them taking my money and having some sort of race are reasonable. By April, it sure seems like the "high risk" population in the US will have been vaccinated. At that point, and for the rest of us, it's mostly like running a race during a bad flu season. And Disney does that all the time. But of course it's not quite the same thing so I can see them being comfortable holding the race and taking our money, but having zero character interactions and strictly requiring masks. For me personally, that would be the worst possible result.

EDIT: Having characters along the way that I can wave at/look at is not the same thing as being able to stop and take pictures. I'm guessing we'll get the former if they hold the races at all.

 

[rteetz]

This is my big concern. I'm sorry to say it but if they can't hold a "normal" race, then I'd personally prefer that they cancel it and give me my money back so I can use that cash to sign up for Wine & Dine. For me, the "perceived value/experiences" are all wrapped up in character interaction during and after the races. If there are no character stops along the route, or if your ability to take pictures with characters along the route is limited in any way, I personally don't see the "value" in running this incredibly expensive race. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I don't do Disney races looking for PRs. I do them to stop at every character and soak in the experience of these unique runs.

I get more doubtful by the day that they'll be able to provide a "normal" Run Disney experience in April. On the other hand, I think the chances of them taking my money and having some sort of race are reasonable. By April, it sure seems like the "high risk" population in the US will have been vaccinated. At that point, and for the rest of us, it's mostly like running a race during a bad flu season. And Disney does that all the time. But of course it's not quite the same thing so I can see them being comfortable holding the race and taking our money, but having zero character interactions and strictly requiring masks. For me personally, that would be the worst possible result.

EDIT: Having characters along the way that I can wave at/look at is not the same thing as being able to stop and take pictures. I'm guessing we'll get the former if they hold the races at all.

I have a feeling the first runDisney race back whenever that will be won't be exactly the same we are used too. Disney has to keep their cast safe as well.

 

[Krandor]

So I struggle with this one a bit. I 100% agree that there have to be enough does, but not sure it matters if people actually take them. From a pure liability standpoint, if I have the ability to get the vaccine and choose not to and then travel to WDW to participate and end up getting sick, I think that's on me, not Disney. I chose not to avail myself of something that would protect me and those that take the vaccine (assuming it works) are not put at risk by my behavior (not entirely true either as vaccines aren't 100% effective). Disney would really only have potential liability in situation where I can't protect myself and therefore need them to have protocols in place to reduce my risk (as is currently the case). Now still could be a PR issue (don't want reports that X number of people that attended the race got sick) which is probably just as important to them as the potential liability. This is more an intellectual exercise for Star Wars as it doesn't seem likely a vaccine will be readily available to all that want it by then, but does make W&D and certainly Marathon weekend seem like more realistic options.

That is about the size of it. One local race I'm concerned about is one of my other favorites of the year with peachtree road race. That one is normally July 4th and based on current projections that still may be a bit on the early side so that one I'm also kinda expecting them to do what they tried to do this year and push it to thanksgiving.

My attitude on all this is different this time though. Back last year when this race got cancelled there was so much uncertainly of "when is this going to be over? When can we get back to racing?" and as more and more races got cancelled some a few weeks out it was draining and it didn't look like there was going to be an end. For me now feels different. yeah it's possible and likely a few more races may get canelled and I'm not going to like that but at least now I can see and end in sight to all this. We can see a time when we can get racing and stuff back to mostly normal and if a few more races need to be cancelled to get there I'm kinda ok with that. I can see now this isn't forever and if groups like rundisney and atlanta track club and new york road runners and all those can survive the next few months they can start doing what they do best the way they want to do it. It is nice to be able to look at races like W&D and MW22 and actually see them as viable to happen. That by itself makes me feel so much better even if a few more don't happen between now and then.

 

[Krandor]

I get more doubtful by the day that they'll be able to provide a "normal" Run Disney experience in April.

I see an almost 0% chance of a normal rundisney race in april. *IF* the race happens it will he heavily modified especially wih charater interactions. Disney isn't going to want the optics of not allowing normal character meet and greets in the park but allowing them for rundisney. That wouldn't look good and wouldn't sit well with people visiting the parks and I think park M&G returned like normal my april is very very unlikely.

I do agree the characters and atmosphere are a lot of what make a rundisney race a rundisney race and why I love to do them and while disney could find a way to pull off *A* race in april, I don't think they can do a rundisney race like people expect in april and that is when you have to ask and decide "if this is what it takes to pull off the race is it worth doing".

To step back to PTRR in atlanta, a lot of that race is about the atphosphere too running down peachtree road with crowds cheering people on and a lot of the sights. In trying to get the race done, the ATC thought about doing 4 races over 4 days in 4 different parts of the city where they could then stagger everybody out over several hours and had even started scouting locations. Finally they asked the question "yes we can do this and we can pull this off safely but is this peachtree road race?" and decided no it wasn't and went virtual. I think rundisney is in a similar situation. They could heavily modify the course and cut off the parks and probably add some miles in ESPN and have some socially distanced character stops, but is that really a rundisney event at that point? I'm with you that it isn't.

 

[kbenson13]

I see an almost 0% chance of a normal rundisney race in april. *IF* the race happens it will he heavily modified especially wih charater interactions. Disney isn't going to want the optics of not allowing normal character meet and greets in the park but allowing them for rundisney. That wouldn't look good and wouldn't sit well with people visiting the parks and I think park M&G returned like normal my april is very very unlikely.

I do agree the characters and atmosphere are a lot of what make a rundisney race a rundisney race and why I love to do them and while disney could find a way to pull off *A* race in april, I don't think they can do a rundisney race like people expect in april and that is when you have to ask and decide "if this is what it takes to pull off the race is it worth doing".

To step back to PTRR in atlanta, a lot of that race is about the atphosphere too running down peachtree road with crowds cheering people on and a lot of the sights. In trying to get the race done, the ATC thought about doing 4 races over 4 days in 4 different parts of the city where they could then stagger everybody out over several hours and had even started scouting locations. Finally they asked the question "yes we can do this and we can pull this off safely but is this peachtree road race?" and decided no it wasn't and went virtual. I think rundisney is in a similar situation. They could heavily modify the course and cut off the parks and probably add some miles in ESPN and have some socially distanced character stops, but is that really a rundisney event at that point? I'm with you that it isn't.

Now that they have my money, I would like to have a say if they want to do a modified race. IF they do that, I hope they give us the option to cancel and get a refund.